Former mayor of Gun Barrel City, Texas, dies in Providence where he had hoped to start anew

Thursday

Jan 16, 2014 at 9:49 PM

When the former mayor of Gun Barrel City, Texas, moved to Rhode Island last year, his friends believed he was fulfilling a long-held dream. Randal Tye Thomas, who was once the youngest mayor in Texas history, hoped to run for state representative in

Amanda Milkovits Journal Staff Writer amandamilkovits

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- When the former mayor of Gun Barrel City, Texas, moved to Rhode Island last year, his friends believed he was fulfilling a long-held dream.

Randal Tye Thomas, known as “Tye,” had made national news more than a decade ago as the youngest mayor in Texas history, heading up a town of about 5,200 people on the banks of Cedar Creek Lake, a little more than 50 miles outside Dallas.

Those who loved Thomas believed that he was destined for greatness —a charming, energetic and intelligent man whose visions spun ahead of him.

But he was also plagued by devils that ultimately consumed him a few days ago, when he died alone at age 35, in a city that he’d hoped could save him.

As a child, Thomas blazed an entrepreneurial trail through Mabank, Texas, selling candy and lottery tickets at high markups in school and starting a newspaper when he was in high school.

Charlotte Whitaker, who owned a local weekly paper, bought his Cedar Creek Briefs and merged the papers. Thomas bought himself a Lexus and went to work for Whitaker.

“I’ve been in this business for 46 years, and he was one of the best salesmen,” said Whitaker, now circulation manager at the Athens Daily Review, in the county seat. “He was very vivacious, a great personality, and he prided himself on the job.”

His newspaper business won him a scholarship at Johnson & Wales University, Whitaker said. During his freshman year, he was elected student body president.

Thomas earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing in 3˝ years, then returned to Texas, founded two more newspapers, and, at 21, ran for mayor of Gun Barrel City.

Thomas won the 2000 election with 67 percent of the vote, and drew national attention. He told people he would run for the state legislature and eventually, for governor. He was a member of the Electoral College and served as a delegate to the 2000 state Republican Convention, voting for George W. Bush.

“He could have been the governor of Texas someday,” said Kathi Nailling, of the Athens Daily Review. “He just didn’t want to wait.”

Thomas pushed for a pay raise for the police, but called them for an escort when he was too drunk to drive.

As the district attorney investigated Thomas for lying about the length of time he had lived in Gun Barrel City to qualify as a candidate, Thomas took a bunch of Xanax pills and drank vodka, according to published reports. Then he called the police from his lakeside condo and insisted that they arrest him for “public intoxication.”

The newspaperman made the wrong kind of headlines. He was indicted for perjury in April 2001. The charge was dismissed when Thomas resigned a month later. His mayoral term was just 54 weeks.

Thomas later moved to Dallas and started other businesses, but friends said he never forgot Rhode Island.

After his mother died in 2011, and with two failed marriages behind him, friends say Thomas wanted to start anew. He decided to start a branch of his Dallas credit repair business in Providence. “All the things that soured him on Texas, it probably made him appreciate Rhode Island more,” said Jeff Cartee, a former college classmate, now the director of development at Junior Achievement of Rhode Island.

“He said he was his happiest when he was in Rhode Island,” said Whitaker. “I think that’s why he went back.”

Providence is not a place where one comes to escape vices.

Last fall, Thomas rented a small three-bedroom cottage on Bath Street, in the heart of Smith Hill, around the corner from a stunning view of the State House.

Thomas told friends he was setting up his business and was going to teach classes for the Learning Connection on starting a business and repairing bad credit.

On his “Skippy Tye Thomas” Facebook page, he posted photos of Rhode Island and commented about how much he loved the state. On the “Welcome to Rhode Island” sign on his page, Thomas wrote that he hoped to run for state representative in Rhode Island.

Thomas stayed connected with his old friends, who knew about his struggles with depression and bipolar disorder.

“He would never put his problems on anyone,” said Tristan Rhys, an old friend from Mabank. “He carried his whole burden himself.”

After Thomas transferred his business accounts back to Dallas sometime last week and stopped answering his phone after Friday, his friends worried.

Rhys called Providence police Sunday night. An officer checked his house and the Westminster Square Building downtown where Thomas had an office. There was no sign of him.

Rhys called again Monday morning. After getting no answer at Thomas’ front door, Officer Dennis O’Brien crawled through an unlocked window and found Thomas’ body on a mattress in the living room.

In the kitchen, the police found unused syringes and two spoons with drug residue and burn marks on the bottom, “indicating possible drug use,” according to a police report.

The police were told that Thomas had been using heroin, the report said. The medical examiner’s office said the cause of death was “pending further studies.”

The gregarious man had ended up alone. Thomas’ neighbors didn’t know him, and didn’t know he’d died. Neither did his landlord, who was evicting him this week for not paying his rent.

Gun Barrel City and Mabank never lost their fascination with Thomas. “Words cannot express his character,” said Rhys. “He was like a beam of light. He was on a different level than everyone because he was so smart.”

Thomas will never leave Rhode Island again. His friends said he wanted his ashes scattered on Block Island.